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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27232540">Taint the Meat...It's the Humanity</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoMoreVillains/pseuds/NoMoreVillains'>NoMoreVillains</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tales from the Crypt (TV 1989)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:47:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,806</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27232540</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoMoreVillains/pseuds/NoMoreVillains</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>During World War II, local butcher Zach Gristle is struggling to keep his business afloat and to keep his family from ending in the poor house. However, his drastic measures to save himself and his family may leave the people six feet under and himself on the chopping block.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Taint the Meat...It's the Humanity</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nobody paid much attention to Zach Gristle before World War II! He was just another small town butcher! But that was before the war. Suddenly, with the advent of meat rationing, red points and ceiling prices, Zach Gristle suddenly became very popular.</p><p>"Howdy Zach," the neighbors would say. "Morning, Mr. Gristle! Mornin', Zach!"</p><p>And Zach would reply in kind, "Mornin' folks! Early in line, I see!"</p><p>Yep. Suddenly, old Zach Gristle suddenly found himself the most popular man in town. Why not? He was only a butcher. Remember, these were the days of ration books, so many red points for each pound of meat, so many red points for each person allowed per month! It was pretty tough! The situation that is.</p><p>"Oh, dear! I have only 41 points left, Mr. Gristle! Can I...owe them to you?"</p><p>"I'm awfully sorry, Mrs. Vinkle! I need those points to buy meat myself! I couldn't do that!"</p><hr/><p>"No sirloin steak, Mr. Gristle?"</p><p>"Sorry, Mr. Fuddy! I just sold the last one to Mr. Cupistore! I could let you have a few pork chops!"</p><hr/><p>"Sorry, Miss Dickleborg! Nothing but salami left! I expect another shipment to arrive tomorrow. But you better be in line early! First come, first serve you know!"</p><p>The neighbors couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor butcher.</p><p>"Poor Mr. Gristle! He tries so hard and he's so honest," they'd say. "The rationing is certainly hard on him!"</p><hr/><p>Yep! Meat rationing was hard on Mr. Gristle! That is until he discovered an interesting fact...</p><p>"If I could get a nice steak, Mr. Gristle, I'd...er...pay! We'd...sort of...forget about the ceiling price."</p><p>Mr. Gristle was shocked by what the rich man was offering. "That's dishonest, Mr. Vandercliff! That's black market!"</p><p>Mr. Vandercliff replied, "No one knows when this war will end, Zach! Might as well make hay while the sun shines! There are a few of us who'd be willing to pay to get what we want!"</p><p>"But what about the poor people?"</p><p>"Suit yourself, Zach! You're one of them, now! You could be pretty well off if you used your head! Think it over!"</p><p>"I...I will, sir! I will think it over!"</p><hr/><p>One thousand, two thousand...oh, pardon me. I was counting the loot from MY black market operation during the war. There was a shortage on caskets, so I'd just dig up the old graves, remove the body and clean the casket all sparkly clean. No one would no the difference! Anyway, let's check in on Mr. Gristle and his wife and son during dinner.</p><p>"Junior! Eat your meal!"</p><p>"I'm not hungry, Ma!"</p><p>Zach took a look at his son's measly meal if you could call it that and thought of what Mr. Vandercliff said. "Seventeen points."</p><p>"You say something, Zach?"</p><p>"Huh? Oh, nothing, dear! I was just thinking."</p><p>Yep. Mr. Gristle thought it over and he made up his mind. The next day...</p><hr/><p>"Why, Mr. Gristle, there's hardly a decent set of meat in your whole showcase!"</p><p>"I'm sorry, Mrs. Grundy! That's all I got! There's a shortage, you know!"</p><p>"But I waited in line for two hours and I'm the first customer you had today!"</p><p>"That's all I got! I'm sorry!"</p><p>But at night, shadowy figures would come by Mr. Gristle's butcher shop...</p><p>"Here's your steak, Mr. Vandercliff. Ten pounds!"</p><p>"And here's your thirty bucks, Mr. Gristle. Oh, tomorrow I got another customer for you! He wants some steaks, too!"</p><p>"But I can't get anymore, Mr. Vandercliff! I don't get enough points! As it is, I'm giving left-overs to the folks in town!"</p><p>"You can figure something out, Mr. Gristle! The folks in town pay points for their meat! Isn't there ANY meat you can get without red points?"</p><hr/><p>...and at the third quarter, it's Fathead by a fat head and now it's the home stretch! But what's this? Fathead just stumbled! It looks like he's busted his leg! They'll have to put him down for sure! And he was such a good horse, too! Are you listening, Mr. Gristle?</p><p>"Junior, eat your meat!"</p><p>"I'm not hungry! Gee, yuh expect me to eat a horse!"</p><p>That gave Mr. Gristle an idea. "Horse!"</p><p>"You say something, dear?"</p><p>"Just thinking, honey."</p><hr/><p>Yep! Mr. Gristle found the solution to his problem! He started buying horse meat and palming it off to his poor customers as the real thing...thereby getting those precious red points...</p><p>"My! You have a nice selection now, Mr. Gristle!"</p><p>"Yes! What would you like, Mrs. Snerd? Chops?"</p><p>And with the precious red points, he'd purchase good meat which he'd sell at the black market.</p><p>"These steaks are going to cost you more money, Mr. Vandercliff! I'm taking big chances, now! Five dollars a pound from now on!"</p><p>"Okay, okay! Now listen! I need twenty pounds next time! I'm having a banquet and my friends need ten pounds! Can you get it?"</p><hr/><p>Soon, the horse meat was not enough! Mr. Gristle had to find other avenues of supply. Which is why he turned to the knacker...</p><p>"Look Mr. Gristle! I'm supposed to sell this meat to zoos! It's too old for human consumption! Been lying around the warehouse too long! Now for a price..."</p><p>"No points?"</p><p>"No points!"</p><p>"I'll take it! But not a word of this to anyone!"</p><hr/><p>Yep. First horse meat, then stale meat! Mr. Gristle was sinking lower and lower! But no one suspected him when a few people around town started getting sick.</p><p>"How's your husband today, Mrs. Horton?" asked the mailman.</p><p>"Better, thanks! But now I ain't feelin' so good."</p><hr/><p>Then one night, the knacker came to Gristles'. Mrs. Gristle answered the door.</p><p>"Mr. Gristle isn't in," she said. "He's out walking."</p><p>"Well, tell him he can pick up another load of the slop!"</p><p>"The...the what?"</p><p>"The stale meat! The junk! The stuff he's been selling as the good stuff! You know!"</p><p>"I...yes, I'll tell him!"</p><p>"Tell him 'em I got some horse meat, too!"</p><p>Mrs. Gristle closed the door and stared at it for a minute. Then she went out. She arrived at the butcher shop a few minutes later to find her husband selling meat to Mr. Vandercliff.</p><p>"Here's your meat, Mr. Vandercliff!"</p><p>"Thanks, Zach."</p><p>"No! Don't take it, Mr. Vandercliff! It's old! Stale! It may be horse meat!"</p><p>Zach was shocked. How did she find out? "Sarah!"</p><p>Mr. Vandercliff chuckled a greedy chuckle. "Not this stuff, Mrs. Gristle," he said, ignoring Zach's nonverbal attempts to shut him up. "I pay six bucks a pound for this stuff! Zach's customers get the junk!"</p><p>"Six dollars?! Black market!!"</p><p>Bright kid, Sarah Gristle. Quick with the numbers. Sixty-nine cents! Six dollars to Vandercliff! Black market! It all fits! She's a good kid. And mad. After Zach's customer leaves...</p><p>"You're selling meat on the black market!"</p><p>"You keep out of this, Sarah!"</p><p>"And you're selling horse meat and stale meat to your customers for red points!"</p><p>"We're going to be rich, Sarah!"</p><p>"I don't want that kind of money! Mr. Horton was sick! Was it from your meat?!"</p><p>"Probably. Who cares?! Anyway, I want the money! After the war, I'm going to retire! I've socked away six grand already!"</p><p>"You've got to stop this! It's against the law!"</p><p>"Hah! Ask old Snorkman's about his gasoline business! Find out about Finch's tire racket! Everybody's doing it! Why shouldn't I?!"</p><hr/><p>Yep. Mrs. Gristle was awful mad! But she couldn't talk Zach out of it. He was determined to make his pile no matter who suffered. And one night, the knacker returned.</p><p>"Got a deal for you, Mr. Gristle. Tainted meat! Real bad! No one'll know it, though! Got a process that covers it up! They won't find out 'til it's inside 'em! They'll feel pretty sad!"</p><p>"I need some points bad! I got a big order to fill! Okay, I'll take it!"</p><p>So Zach bought the spoiled meat and sold it to his customers!</p><p>"My sister-in-law is here out of town! She's amazed that we can get all the meat we want here!"</p><p>"Heh, just try to do my best, Mrs. Abachrombie! What'll it be?"</p><hr/><p>And that was the beginning of the end of Mr. Zach Gristle. Here's some flowers for Mrs. Abachrombie! What kind, you ask? Lilies, of course! Dead, you know.</p><p>"Did you hear? Mrs. Abachrombie just died! Poisoned! They think her sister-in-law did it!"</p><p>Mr. Gristle gasped. "Poisoned?!"</p><p>"They're performing an autopsy right now!"</p><p>Sweat started to drip from Mr. Gristle's forehead. "Excuse me, Mrs. Gabber! If that's all you want, I'd like to close up!"</p><p>Mr. Gristle shooed Mrs. Gabber out of the store and locked it up! He was scared! He was going to have to hit the road...leave town...go on the lam... He was rushing for home when he met the sheriff, Pete. "Howdy, Zach! Closin' up early on account of the maniac?"</p><p>"Maniac? What maniac?"</p><p>"Why, the one goin' 'round poisonin' everyone! Mrs. Abachrombie...the Snerds...and Ol' Man Grundy! All dead! Watch yerself goin' home!"</p><p>"Y-Yes. Good night, Pete!"</p><p>Zach Gristle ran all the way home! First thing he did was take his black market money from his hiding place! Eleven thousand dollars...</p><p>"Pack your bags, Sarah! We're leaving town!"</p><p>"You're in trouble! They found out! I warned you not to sell the horse meat!"</p><p>"It's worse than that, Sarah! I sold them tainted meat! Four people are dead already!!"</p><p>"You...you what?"</p><p>What are you, deaf, Sarah? HE POISONED THEM WITH SPOILED MEAT! HE KILLED THEM! It's sinking into that female brain! That's it! GET MAD! GET ANGRY!</p><p>"YOU'RE A MURDERER!"</p><p>"I did it for US, Sarah! For me, for you, for Junior!"</p><p>"JUNIOR?! He's eating at Herbie Horton's house!"</p><p>"Horton?! She bought some of it!"</p><p>At that moment, little Zach Junior staggered into the kitchen, looking green around the gills.</p><p>"I feel sick, Mommy! I...I..."</p><p>"Junior! Baby!"</p><p>Little Junior collapsed onto the kitchen floor.</p><p>"He's dead, Zach! Dead! You killed him, too... Our son...eh...eh...our son..."</p><p>"Sarah! Put down that knife!"</p><p>When they unlocked Zach Gristle's butcher shop the next morning, they found Mrs. Gristle standing behind the counter staring off into space. She wore a blood-smeared apron around her neck! Before her...in the meat showcase...Zach Gristle had been clumsily carved and laid out on the various meat trays. The sheriff couldn't believe it.</p><p>"Good lord!"</p><p>Mrs. Gristle called out in a spaced-out voice, "Tainted meat? Tainted meat, anyone?"</p><p>Poor Gristle. He wound up on the chopping block after selling one too many pounds of tainted meat. And as for Sarah, she found herself deciding to go vegan. It's all she gets while spending time an insane asylum anyway. So, hungry for a hunk of Gristle meat? I'm sure he'll be served well at your next dinner.</p>
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